Fixing shit is what I do, and I do it well. Everything from lawnmowers to jet engines, I can figure out what's wrong with it and make it work correctly, or let you know it's beyond hope. All except our political system. I wouldn't have a clue of where to start. This health care "reform" process shows me it's pretty well beyond hope.
Athenae has a great post up this morning about the clusterfuck this process has become:
...We don't care who had to give what to get what, out here in the world where it's cold and we're broke. We don't care how important this is politically to anybody, or why what we were promised -- fixing a broken health care system -- has now been watered down to an expansion of the current health care system we're required to subject ourselves to. We don't care that some conservative Democrat had to explain it to his district, or somebody somewhere pissed Joey Lieberman off by calling him a dick on her blog so there motherfuckers eat it for breakfast and lunch, or that Harry's trying really hard, or Obama never promised this or that or the other thing.
We just want them to FIX IT and not make us a party to their unending bullshit.
...
And that's all it is; political posturing, playground finger-pointing, and the only people losing out are the folks who need real reform most desperately.
The U.S, Senate is nothing but a bunch of spoiled brats who want to protect their positions; what the average American needs be damned. Had any of them any principles, their reelection would be the last thing on their minds. It seems the only 'work' they do is to kill time between campaigns.
The talking point now is that "some Americans being covered is better than none" and I call that bullshit. In this day and age, when every "western", industrialized nation has single-payer, or something very close to it, and even some Third World toilets have better health care options than we do, the health care 'debate' we're having in this country is nothing more than disgraceful. Every American should be covered, from birth until death, by a not-for-profit health system that knows no equal anywhere in the world. Instead we are given a bag of shit and we're supposed to feel grateful.
The America of the 21st Century is the land of, by, and for corporate interest and the 300 million of us be damned. "Just vote and shut up, and take what we give you" is the way of life now. Be happy with whatever crumbs that fall from the giant's lips that you're able to grab. Can't get enough? Petition charities to give you a handout, that's the American Way. Large portions of our population can't afford to get sick, are one hospital visit away from financial ruin, and we call ourselves "the greatest nation in the world"? We should be ashamed of ourselves.
I don't know what the answer is. I don't know how we can fix this system where the moneyed hold the reins of power and refuse to consider anything but their own interest. They're not in it to carry out the will of the majority of their constituents but the will of those who give them the majority of their campaign funds. The system has to change but those who can effect change are quite happy with what we have.
What to do? I don't know, short of revolution, but too many are still too comfortable for that to happen. At least with a car, I know what it will take to repair whatever is wrong. It might cost a lot, the thing might be beyond hope and cheaper to scrap and get another, but at least I can tell a customer what his options are. In our political system, we only have two, criminals or incompetents, and choosing either one or the other will not fix what is broken. Neither wants to fix it because then all of them would be on the unemployment line. Politics should be a calling, not a career and these people have made a career out of enriching themselves to the detriment of those they're supposed to represent and protect. They've given us a shit sandwich while they eat prime rib.
"The Greatest Nation On Earth" has become nothing more than a failed empire and a sad irony.
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